Minnesota Prairie Roots

AS I WRITE, Christmas music plays on the radio. Snow falls.* And in my living room, an angel-topped tree graces a corner near the front picture window.

On a day like today,* when grey infiltrates the house, I typically plug in the holiday lights. But they remain unplugged, no lights brightening the room.

There’s a problem. One strand no longer works and, on the other, only half of the bulbs flash color. A brief search for Christmas lights locally proved futile. “You can’t find them anywhere in Faribault,” a cashier at a local chain store told me. The two stores I checked validated that. Sort of.

I didn’t necessarily believe that lights can’t be found anywhere locally. But then I heard the co-hosts of an Owatonna radio talk show say the same. No holiday lights to be found.

UPDATE: I found Christmas lights in Faribault. At ACE Hardware early Saturday afternoon. Shelves were adequately stocked with a variety of lights.

The challenge then was to replace the burned out strings. And, let me tell you, putting lights on a tree after it’s been decorated with ornaments and tinsel rates as frustrating and difficult. Eventually Randy finished the task after my pleas to, please, help me.

So…if you live in Faribault and need Christmas lights, stories of their lack of availability anywhere in town are greatly exaggerated.

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* I wrote the beginning of this post on Friday, December 10.

© Copyright 2021 Audrey Kletscher Helbling